Wow! Exciting start to the season. I'm thrilled with how close the cars can follow and battle each other, passing and re-passing like it's MotoGP! I gotta admit that I danced when the RB's went out and Lewis got on the podium-what an amazing birthday present!!
Agreed, the potential for following close and racing looks very good.
Highlight of the race had to be the battle between Leclerc and Max. That was top notch.
What a race for HAAS having not made it on track in a race simulation to the first pit stop in testing bring both cars home and Kevin in fifth. Mick showed that all that spin practice last year payed off at the start too, get's turned, swings it around only loosing a couple of positions.
In reply to loosecannon :
Happy Birthday!
Hehe hehe... Christian will be crying the big tears tonight.
This bodes very well for good racing this season. I wonder whether RB is spinning their power unit a bit too hard, or just one bad day?
And the Ferrari has sure built a fine one. Lotta F engines in the top ten.
Yowzah! Great racing between Charles and Max, great for Haas, Kmag held his good qualifying position on merit. Going to be a great season.
Great Race!
I jokingly predicted the Podium during the safety Car 
Max and Marko talked about "Fuel Pressure problems", I wonder if they just ran out of gas?
In reply to Gzwg :
You'd think they'd have seen that coming. Unless they have a pickup problem at low loads, but that's a rookie mistake.
In reply to Gzwg :
That's an interesting thought. They talked about possible fuel problems with the different formulation this year. They talked about expanding fuel and high pressure etc.
Gzwg said:Great Race!
I jokingly predicted the Podium during the safety Car
Max and Marko talked about "Fuel Pressure problems", I wonder if they just ran out of gas?
Verstappen's harvesting lights were flashing at strange points when he was having problems, I don't think it's just gas.
Three Red Bull engine failures, Verstappen, Perez (apparently the engine just stopped which is why he spun) and of course Gasly's complete loss of power and resulting fire. This is RBR's first year doing the engine by themselves, right?
Perez's harvesting lights also flashed when the engine locked, while Verstappen had them flashing when he was entering the pits. Interesting that RB didn't see a problem on the data while Max was on his last lap - they obviously eventually saw something as they boxed him in time to save the power unit, but it came on late. No warnings for the other two.
First year for RB engines, yes. Could be a long one.
Thanks to the Red Bull double retirement, Haas are actually 3rd in the constructors' as of this race! Yeah, they'll get knocked back down a few spots, I'm sure, but they should have a good season. Given that MSC was always out-driving MAZ, it makes me wonder how many of those 10 points are the car and how many are K-Mag. Could they have possibly put a point on the board last year with a real driver?
It's a shame to see Williams and McLaren floundering, but I think Haas, Alfa, and Alphatauri are going to give us a fun midfield battle.
Forza Ferrari!!!
What great racing and just beautiful cars. KMag in 5th! Bottas 6th! No RB's even finish!!
Well E36 M3!
I was enjoying the race up until Max retired. I really hope that we get a three way battle for both championships this season.
Congratulations to Charles and Ferrari. They deserved the win.
I know a lot of you love Hammy. I don't have anything against him but I'd like to see just about anyone else win this season. I'd even settle for Russell.
I wonder if Perez would have made it to the end if Max had retired the car on the track and forced another safety car/vsc?
Thinking about the failure modes - it's gotta be the battery or ERS. Gasley had the car just shut down. So did Perez. Max was complaining about power loss to the EPAS, then battery power delivery - and it started right after a pit stop where he likely had to put the car into a specific "safe" mode.
Gzwg said:Great Race!
I jokingly predicted the Podium during the safety Car
Max and Marko talked about "Fuel Pressure problems", I wonder if they just ran out of gas?
Generally, fuel pressure problems don't lock the car up tight like Perez. No, that was an excuse to tell the press. No idea what is really wrong, but I lean toward Kieth's points about it being an electrical based problem. Perhaps Honda didn't want to do this for a reason. And now that it's not their image, go for it. But a serious electrical problem would lock up the car like that- and certainly cause a fire that nobody wanted to go near, as well as the EPAS problem.
Haas had it's best day in a very long time, so good on them. I, too, really wondered about Mick's performance, seeing how Mags just went out there and drove. Clearly, last year was funded by russian oligarchs, as Maz was, well, pathetic.
It's too bad that they had so many reliability problems during testing, as other than that, they have used their advantages to full force. They just look really strong, and may even find some more to get a little higher. On the flip side of the reliability was this weekend- so nice to see. I wonder how much lap time they have given up for the testing issues.
Because the rather obvious alternative was Williams- who had almost the same advantages, and, well... Aston is pretty convinced that if they can find a solution to the bouncing, they will just right up into the middle of the midfield. Williams? Can they do that?
McLaren looked so good in Barcelona- if they can solve the brake issue, I think they will be ok.
On the other hand, if the Merc motor is that bad, then the Mercedes chassis must be amazing.
alfadriver said:On the other hand, if the Merc motor is that bad, then the Mercedes chassis must be amazing.
I know it's rude to say I told you so, but I've been saying that for a year or more.
Comparison, speculation and factoring in the last two years, since we were supposed to get the new stuff last year:
Ferrari had a year of development, because they knew they were third at absolutely best last couple of years, so why bother. Plus, two young, talented drivers.
Mercedes probably wanted to win the entire era, so maybe didn't put as much effort into the new car as they could have. Plus, winning the constructors leaves them heavily penalized in wind tunnel time.
Haas spent exactly nothing on last year's (2 years) cars, so they should have made some progress. Plus losing the Russian and the big power from Ferrari has to be good news.
Alfa, pretty much the same story as Haas. And Bottas, other than being incapable of making a good start, is a good driver, with a ton of laps under his belt.
Red Bull seems to have hit the happy aero zone, Max is rocket fast, and if this weekends reliability is an aberration, they are good. Based on Merc catching them up last year, I bet they spent the second half of the season on this year's car.
Williams has a whole lotta room to improve. Our rich Canadian is a fair shoe at best, and Albon has potential, but also had a year off. And Merc power...or lack thereof
Maclaren has missed something badly, and Merc power.
Aston Martin, hard to say. Merc power, missing #1 driver, but they should have had a bunch of development last year that didn't seem to take. Realistically, though, it's a pretty new team.
I'd have thought Alpha Tauri would have been stronger out of the box.
Alpine Point India should have had some good development time last year, but having no customer engines must be a bit tough. Two good drivers, though.
I bet today's running order is pretty stable through the year, although Merc is probably one aero change, and a bit more boost away from being in the mix.
In reply to Streetwiseguy :
The thing about Haas and Alfa is Ferrari- and the parts that they do share. Solid stuff. They could have easily made a mistake just like Williams did, and perhaps Aston has as well. And clearly McLaren made a massive mistake.
I agree that it's likely that Mercedes is suffering from their success, but I am not so sure they put that much into last year- their car is pretty radically different than everyone else- that had to take a lot of resources to come up with.
If they come back, and the speed is there, then it's really limiting the top speed because of the bouncing. And seeing Russell and Hamilton struggle with tires- they did lift the car up to prevent it, and lost performance.
I've only watched highlights, but it was *so* cool to see actual passing. That does a lot to make me more excited about F1 than I've been in a very, very long time.
To be fair, Hulk was in the points the vast majority of the race. He's the best pinch hitter in the game.
Sooo happy for post-Mazespin HAAS
I thought McLaren and Aston Martin's lack of performance notable. They were terrible and I wasn't expecting that at all. I don't know if there is even a magical recovery plan you can make from being that far off. Does this signal a rough year ahead? It's interesting to see how the luck of the team choice pays out or cripples drivers. Sainz goes to Ferrari when they are struggling and misses out on a good season last year but by the looks of it is much better off now.
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